Penn State's O'Brien says Wartman ready to practice

Former Valley View star Nyeem Wartman hasn't suited up for Penn State since he sprained his knee against Virginia on Sept. 8.

But when Penn State released its injury report for the Ohio State game Tuesday, Wartman's name was absent for the first time in more than a month.

At his weekly press conference, Nittany Lions coach Bill O'Brien said that Wartman, who opened the season as the backup middle linebacker to starter Glenn Carson, has returned to practice and is healthy enough to return to the field this weekend against Ohio State.

"If we need him," O'Brien promised, "he'll play."

That doesn't mean he will. Penn State can still petition the NCAA for a medical redshirt on Wartman's behalf if he doesn't return to the field this season. But medical redshirts are limited to players who are injured in the first or second game of the season and can't return to the field. By rule, Wartman would be ineligible for a redshirt medically if he returns to the field at any point this season.

Not so special

Even as kicker Sam Ficken and punter Alex Butterworth struggled throughout the first half of the season, O'Brien continued to compliment the special teams coverage units, pointing to them as a bastion of consistency on special teams.

Even they have slumped in recent weeks though.

In each of the last two games, the Nittany Lions have allowed a return touchdown: Venric Mark's 75-yard punt return for a score against Northwestern; Jordan Cotton's 92-yard kickoff return last weekend against Iowa.

"That wasn't very good football," O'Brien said. "I believe that we're better than that. I think in the Iowa game we somewhat relaxed on that play, and we've spent a lot of time over the past day and a half correcting that.

"Hopefully they'll rebound with a better effort, because they need to. Ohio State's kickoff return team is very, very good and explosive."

Student support

He hasn't been to the Nittanyville tent community that has sprouted up around Beaver Stadium, where hundreds of students began camping out on Monday to ensure they'd get prime seats in the student section for Saturday's clash with Ohio State. But what O'Brien has heard of the gathering doesn't differ from what he was told about the student support after Penn State hired him in January.

"I can't say enough about our student body," he said. "I mean, that's just what this place is all about, a student body that works hard in the classroom, supports their football team and all their athletic teams. It's unbelievable.

"People were right when I first came here, they told me you haven't seen anything until you run out for a game or you witness the support of the student body."

Like he did the week before the Northwestern game, O'Brien again urged fans, who will be participating in the season's first and only scheduled Whiteout, to arrive early and make their presence known to the Buckeyes.

"It gives our players a ton of energy, and on Saturday, we just want (fans) here early," O'Brien said. "We want them to wear white. We want them to be respectful, but we also want them to be very, very loud throughout the whole game."

Birthday boy

O'Brien turned 43 on Tuesday, but he'll save any celebrating in case the Nittany Lions defeat Ohio State on Saturday.

O'Brien seems to like birthdays as much as he likes punting.

He said his wife has compiled a list of "things I don't really enjoy." On it: birthdays, weddings, the beach and, yes, even theme parks. (There was no word on where puppies and fluffy kittens fit on the list.)

To illustrate his distaste for birthdays, O'Brien said he had blocked the existence of his out of his mind until he received a text message from his older brother Tuesday morning.

"It said 'Happy Birthday,' " O'Brien said. "And that's when I figured it was my birthday."

Nittany notes

There won't be a bowl game for Penn State this season, and they won't be making one on their own, either. A report from a Honolulu-based newspaper said Hawaii coach Norm Child has been contacted by a prominent east-coast team asking to play the Warriors in Hawaii in December, but O'Brien denied Penn State was that program. ... While he said that he wouldn't hesitate to play backup quarterback Steven Bench if the situation called for it, O'Brien said he still felt Iowa was close enough in last Saturday's 38-14 win to compel him to stay with starter Matt McGloin in the fourth quarter. ... Speaking of McGloin, he was the victim of one of O'Brien's more light-hearted moments of the press conference. When a question from a reporter began with the supposition that, "McGloin is definitely not a dual-threat quarterback...," O'Brien shot back with a chuckle: "What are you talking about? Weren't you at the Northwestern game?" McGloin scored the winning touchdown on a rush against the Wildcats, but his quasi-slide into the end zone has been the butt of jokes around the program since.

Contact the writer: dcollins@timesshamrock.com

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